1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a housing, an operation panel including the housing, and an image forming apparatus including the operation panel. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a housing that can accommodate elements in its inner area and that can be locked and unlocked. An operation panel includes the housing and an image forming apparatus includes the operation panel.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
In recent years, manufacturing processes have been separated and are often performed at different sites, for flexibility and cost efficient reasons. For example, a manufacturing operation may produce a unit A that includes a housing or an exterior portion of an overall product at a first factory, and may produce parts that are to be mounted inside of the housing at a second factory. Those parts will then be later assembled into a completed product.
Such a manufacturing operation is becoming increasingly popular from a point of view of a so-called international division of labor or international specification. From an international point of view, it may be more efficient to spread out the manufacturing process of a product such that certain units are produced in a country that has low cost labor and completed products or more sensitive products can be made in another country, for example where the completed products are to be sold.
Such a so-called international division of labor does lead to certain complications. Specifically, different lead times for each production unit or section that forms a part of a completed product have to be addressed.
As is often the case in such situations, units or sections are transferred individually in a condition in which they are tentatively or temporarily assembled, for example to another facility where the completed product will be made. Then, when those tentatively assembled products reach the final assembly site at least certain of the parts must be taken apart and then reassembled to complete the final product by being combined with other sections made for example at other sites.
In general, the tentative assembly and the final assembly at least in some ways use the same steps and operations. As a result, often the time spent for the tentatively assembly can be as much as or close to the time spent for a final assembly.
Another factor to consider is that if the tentative assembly is too thorough of an assembly, parts may be broken by accident when the tentative assembly must be taken apart. On the other hand, if the tentative assembly is too weak and the parts are too easy to take apart, the units or sections may become separated during transit or at an undesired time.